Black Is White
Seventy-five years ago, in a remote area in the Far East, there lived a wealthy couple. Both the wife's and husband's families and relatives lived a lavish lifestyle, but never forget to give charities to the needy every month as part of their pledge to the community. The couple, having no child for many years, decided to adopt a child one day. A girl was adopted and was loved dearly by the said couple.
The old-lady servant of the couple had a husband, but died in the war. Her husband never knew that he had a child with the lady-servant.
For three years, the adopted girl stayed merrily in the couple's huge house together with the servant. However, just before the fourth birthday of the child, the couple perished in a mishap. The couple's car was totally wrecked and their bodies were found inside the car under an old bridge one stormy night. The servant felt so devastated because she didn't know how the adopted girl is going to accept it. The servant recalled she had an agreement with the wealthy couple that the adopted child only needs to recognize the couple as her true biological parents. But what is more important now is how will the servant take care of the innocent girl?... The little girl has an angelic face with soft black hair, but with a black skin; unlike the couple's skin that's so white and pinkish. The servant has already decided that she will keep her promise to the deceased couple no matter what happens in the future. The servant paid respect to the couple in their graves and uttered silently, words of gratitude for being so caring to her daughter.
After the couple's burial, the servant stayed in the couple's house. She took good care of the couple's child. The growing child is so appreciative with everything under the sole custody of the servant.
At age five, the little girl started schooling. In school, she is being teased by her classmates because of her skin color. The servant just kept on telling her that she needs to ignore the teasing, always think beautiful about herself and focus more on learning good things in school. The girl listened and accepted the fact that she is living with no real family member beside her. Nevertheless, she is contented because the lady-servant is always there for her all the time.
One morning, the little girl asked the servant, "Why do you care for me so much... so much more than I can hardly imagine?" The servant replied, "Your parents accommodated me when I had no place to go and they fed me when I was hungry." The girl was surprised by the servant's response and praised her for her gratitude and reciprocity. The child added, "Thank you for taking care of me!"
"You are most welcome." replied the servant.
A week later, the young girl asked the servant, "Do you know where I came from and who my parents are?" The servant was appalled by the girl's question and said, "I met your parents sometime ago when you were still an infant. Your father died in the war because he was in the military service as a soldier."
"How about my mother?... Have you ever known her?"
The servant said, "I met your mother once. Your mother loved you so much. She can't afford to send you to school because of hardship, but your mother never abandoned you."
The girl said, "I love my parents who adopted me and I will always love them. I want to love my real parents too, but I never knew them."
The servant said, "I will show you your parents' pictures if I can find them in their old abandoned house. It is about a hundred miles away from here."
"Really?!" asked the girl.
"Yes. Promise!" said the servant.
Ten years passed and the little girl is now a young lady. She approached her servant and asked about what the servant promised her sometime ago. "I waited many years, but still you haven't shown me my true parents' pictures?..."
The servant replied, "I didn't forget what I promised you. I went to your parents' abandoned house and learned that the house is already demolished. Only the lot is left where the old house usually stands."
Immediately, the lady went upstairs straight to her room after hearing that from the servant. Many days and nights the young lady lost her appetite and skipped meals almost everyday.
Worried about the young lady's physique, the servant knocked at her door and asked if the servant can stay in her room. And maybe sleep close to the foot of the young lady's bed each night so the servant can see her more often. The young lady didn't hesitate to allow the servant stay in her room.
As days and nights go by, the lady and the servant became closer to each other than ever before. The servant is reading aloud different stories from books taken from the couple's house library and sharing her personal experiences to cheer up the lady.
"Thank you for being there for me all the time. I wish you were my real mother too!" whispered the young lady to the servant.
The lady hugged the servant. And the servant was consoled after long years of not having been embraced by the once-little child in her arms. Tears are rolling down on the servant's cheeks.
The lady felt the servant's tears and palpitation in her chest and asked, "Why are you crying?"
The servant responded, "Nothing. I only remembered somebody I missed for a long time..."
On the lady's seventeenth birthday, she received many gifts from her classmates and friends. And being so kind that she is to everybody, she never forget to acknowledge the servant's presence in her side whenever and wherever she is needed.
After seventeen years of service inside the couple's house, the servant gave a present to the lady-celebrator and said, "I have one simple gift for you and I kept it in a box for a long time. In time, whatever is in it, it will lighten your path in the outside world."
Elated about the birthday gift, the lady said, "I will keep it and take care of it, the way you did."
Several months later, the servant is getting ill. The young lady noticed that the servant is fainting most of the time.
The lady averred, "Few weeks from now I will be turning eighteen. Up to this day, I haven't opened the long rectangular box that you gave me on my seventeenth birthday. Maybe I can open it right now..."
The servant reacted, "Yes, of course. It is yours!..." (coughing)
When the lady opened the rectangular box, she saw a long, thick black candlestick. She giggled. "Out of the many colors of any candlestick, why black?"
The servant replied, "It looks black because the paraffin is a mixture of black and white wax. But there is so much more that you cannot see in it, until you lit it."
The servant added, "Take good care of it and never let anyone touch the candlestick. It is your life and it can change many things for you. Even the unimaginable and indiscernible things can come true!"
The lady said, "You are just tired because you are sick today. Today and in the coming days, I will be your nurse. I just finished high school and it's summer vacation now!"
"Yes, I know," said the servant to the lady. "And I'm sorry that your Graduation Day is the only day I was not beside you. I was really sick these past few days. I'm sorry."
"You are excused. You are my second mother, remember?!", inserted the young lady. "And you are always there for me! Thank you."
The servant was sobbing when she held the lady's hands. The lady felt the servant's palms so cold and shaky, quivering like a naked person in the snowfield.
The lady said to the servant, "Take a good sleep for now. I will set my bed very close to your bed so I can watch over you the whole night."
"Thank you, my child..." the servant whispered.
Hours passed and the sunshine is coming in inside the house. The sunlight has already touched the house floors and the servant is still sleeping. The lady woke up and waited for the servant to get up from her bed. The lady decided to go downstairs, ate her breakfast and went outside to collect some flowers from the garden and pick fresh fruits in the field. Minutes later, the lady returned and went upstairs and put a basket of fruits near the bed where the servant sleeps. The servant is still asleep. The lady went downstairs again and thought of setting the dining table and cook something for the servant. It took more than an hour to finish her cooking. The lady hurried back to the servant's room and checked her out. The servant is not breathing anymore.
The young lady cried out loud and called for assistance in the neighborhood. The lady wanted the servant to be revived inside the hospital where the latter was brought but it's too late to save the servant's life.
Many days and nights the young lady wept and stayed at home after the servant's burial. Then she opened the rectangular gift box that was given to her by the servant. She found an envelope underneath the candlestick and it reads, "Katsuki.". A piece of paper is also inserted that reads, "I love you forever Kai! My Daughter, My Child."
At that very moment the young lady recalled one story in the servant's life, that the servant had a lost daughter in Japan. The servant"s husband died in an Asian War and never knew about the child. But the servant told her that the servant was able to recover and save her child from war and entrusted her daughter in an orphanage. The wealthy couple who adopted a girl opened an orphanage for the homeless children years before she was born.
The young lady realized that the way the servant spoke to her and the way the servant loved her is more than just a promise to keep. For so long, her servant never left her.
"Kai is my name," said the young lady to herself. "I am my servant's daughter!..."
That same night, the young lady was whining, thinking about the previous years she didn't pay attention to some of the servant's advices.
The next day, Kai litted the long, thick black candlestick. She was walking slowly around the house and while passing a big mirror on the wall, she noticed a very strange appearance reflecting in the mirror. Her skin turned white. She startled at first, stepped back against the mirror and stepped forward again. She was fascinated by the lighted candlestick that she was holding. She blew the light away from the candlestick, looked at herself in the mirror and saw her skin turned to natural black again. She litted the candlestick again, and her skin turned white again.
Kai tried to inspect the long rectangular gift box where the candlestick is kept for many years. She found a different letter in it. She read the letter, "I love you very much Kai. My grandmother gave me this black candlestick when I was conceiving you inside my womb. She said that my daughter's skin is black. There's never a curse foretold in our family line even before your birth, but this candlestick can do a lot for you in the future. Make good use of it to achieve your dreams! Keep it safe with you and don't let anyone touch it."
Kai's skin is already smooth, but dark in natural complexion. And whenever she lits the candlestick, her skin turns white and looks flawless. She looks gorgeous and more confident than ever before.
Kai's tall height, charm and wits helped her become a beauty queen for some time. Realizing the magical power of the black candlestick, she kept it safe all the time until her old age. Hence, she never marry. But fame and fortune are her rewards for her kindness and humility.
Black is white when you always keep your mind, heart and soul clean and bright!
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